CHARLES SINCLAIR WRIGHT
BERESFORD MILTON TROY DAVIS
ERIC ROWLANDS
KENNETH DOUGLAS DYCE
JACK STANLEY BIFFEN
FREDERICK WILSON RALPH
KILLED IN A CRASH ON 23 MAY 1943
460 SQUADRON RAAF

Subject:    460 squadron RAAF
Date:            Sun, 12 Dec 1999 10:43:43 +0100
From:           Arnold Detmar arapaho@planet.nl

Dear Peter,

Here an E-mail from the Netherlands, In 1984 I have conducted an investigation in cooperations with the salvage and recovery unit of the Royal Dutch Airforce on request of the brother of C.S. Wright (killed 23 May 1943 at Schoonebeek, Holland ). Somewhere in my loft I must have an extensive file on this crash, with photographs, official police reports from 1943, etc etc.

At the time of the investigation Mr Wright's brother was seriously ill with cancer and died the following year, however he did manage to visit his brother's grave in the Netherlands and saw the area where the plane came down. At the time of the crash it was very marshy land, and many farmers in the area still find bits and pieces of crashed WW2 aircraft.

Should you be interested in the info in my files than please E-mail me at arapaho@planet.nl and I will send you the relavant data. My compliments on your web-site.

Kind regards
Arnold Detmar
Holland

Subject:    460 squadron RAAF
Date:             Mon, 20 Dec 1999 16:44:02 +0100
From:           "Brian Detmar" <brian.detmar@planet.nl>

This aircraft was most certainly an aircraft from 460 SQ RAAF. I have to find the file first to give you all the details but from what I remember by heart I am almost certain that it was AR-J for Johnny, It did not return from from a raid on Dortmund in the night 23rd-24th of May 1943. It was shot down by an ME110 nightfighter from Twenthe Airbase (still operational today as EHTW ).

Of all the crew only one parachuted out safely. The rest were killed and burried in the civilian cemetery of Schoonebeek in the Netherlands at 52.40' North - 006.54' East. The human remains of the crew are still burried in the same cemetery today. In the official police report from 1943 it was mentioned that after the impact in the marshy land, the police found the bodies of the crew will the shoulder pad "AUSTRALIA".

As soon as I have found the file I will scan all the documents and foto's I may have and E-mail them to you. I would really appreciate if you you can link all that info to the name of C.S.Wright. He was part of crew D05 consisting of Davis / Rowlands / Goldthorpe / Dyce / Biffen / Wright / Ralph, I think it was Goldthorpe who managed to parachute and was taken POW.

For me personally C.S. Wright became the personification (correct english?) for all the airmen who fought so bravely for the liberation of my country. I was born in 1963 so I haven't experienced the war myself, but I still to this day feel a deep respect for all those airmen who risked their lives on every mission to conquer the evil forces in Europe, a lot of them died, some very far away from their own homes and family's.

That's why I feel that 460 SQ RAAF is so special, it wasn't even their own country they were trying to liberate, and so to speak not even the enemy in their own hemisphere. I hope I will be able to send you some news shortly.

Kindest regards and have a good christmas

Arnold Detmar

The following information is from the Commonwealth War Graves site:-

Six crew members of the above aircraft were buried in Schoonebeek General Cemetery as follows:-

Location: Oud Schoonebeek is in the commune of Schoonebeek, about 17 kilometres due east of Coevorden, near the German border. The cemetery is 90 metres south of the church in Oud Schoonebeek, on the southern side of the road to the village of Nieuw-Schoonebeek. The graves are immediately south of the entrance.

Historical Information:  SCHOONEBEEK (OUD SCHOONEBEEK) GENERAL CEMETERY (Index No. NL. 438) Oud Schoonebeek, in the commune of Schoonebeek, is 17 kilometres (about 10.5 miles) due east of Coevorden, near the German border. Although accommodation is available in the village, the best centre for visitors is Coevorden, from which there are buses to Oud Schoonebeek every two hours. The cemetery is 100 yards south of the church in Oud Schoonebeek, on the southern side of the road to the village of Nieuw-Schoonebeek. Immediately south of the entrance are the graves of 24 airmen, thirteen of whom came from the United Kingdom, seven from Canada and four from Australia.

In Memory of

CHARLES SINCLAIR WRIGHT

Flight Sergeant
421066
Royal Australian Air Force
who died on
Monday, 24th May 1943. Age 25.

Son of Herbert John and Margaret Beatrice Lilian Wright, of Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.

Grave Reference/Panel Number: Plot 3. Row 1. Grave 749.

In Memory of

BERESFORD MILTON TROY DAVIS

Flight Sergeant
405966
Royal Australian Air Force
who died on
Monday, 24th May 1943. Age 20.

Son of Harry Michael and Jessie Venus Davis, of Sandgate, Queensland, Australia.

Grave Reference/Panel Number: Plot 3. Row 1. Grave 752.

In Memory of

ERIC ROWLANDS

Sergeant
1040539
Flt. Engr.
460 (R.A.A.F.) Sqdn, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
who died on
Monday, 24th May 1943.

Grave Reference/Panel Number: Plot 3. Row 1. Grave 751.

In Memory of

KENNETH DOUGLAS DYCE

Flight Sergeant
412411
Royal Australian Air Force
who died on
Monday, 24th May 1943. Age 21.

Son of Colin Stuart Dyce and Alice Elizabeth Dyce, of Coolamon, New South Wales, Australia.

Grave Reference/Panel Number: Plot 3. Row 1. Grave 753.

In Memory of

JACK STANLEY BIFFEN

Flight Sergeant
411839
Royal Australian Air Force
who died on
Monday, 24th May 1943. Age 21.

Son of Alfred Stanley and Henrietta Biffen, of Rose Bay, New South Wales, Australia.

Grave Reference/Panel Number: Plot 3. Row 1. Grave 748.

In Memory of

FREDERICK WILSON RALPH

Flight Sergeant
R/152317
Air Gnr.
460 (R.A.A.F.) Sqdn, Royal Canadian Air Force
who died on
Monday, 24th May 1943.

Grave Reference/Panel Number: Plot 3. Row 1. Grave 750

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This page first produced 26 April 2000

This page last updated 21 February 2020